End Of Extinction
by The Lobster's Claw
Summary: Sequel to The Extinct Ally and Countdown To Extinction. No turning back. Eragon, Saphira, and all who have joined them shall make their last stand against Angvard. The fate of an entire realm lies in their hands. Will they truly be the ones to topple the death god? If they can't do it, no one else ever will.


_**Now, in the ending A/N of Countdown To Extinction, I said that this story should be up in about seven months. Obviously, it has been much more and I am very, very, very, very, very, very SORRY! Now, most would writers would say that there is no excuse, but luckily enough, I have a legitimate excuse to save my sorry ass. School has not been very kind to me, and my chem class in particular has transformed into a constant pain in the ass. On the lesser side, I also have some shit I have to deal with elsewhere on this site. But I'm not one to forget. I have put this off for too long, and now it's FINALLY here. End Of Extinction-the sequel to The Extinct Ally and Countdown To Extinction, and the third and final installment in the Rise Of Extinction trilogy.**_

End Of Extinction

Chapter 1

_The scratching of the quill against the paper was the only noise in the wide, purple walled room, with its magnificent obsidian statues of the various creatures under his rule and watch. Although he could have taken the much easier route by simply asking Korchulan, the man would have probably laughed, and he would be put on the spot and mocked. There was no way to do that in the privacy of one's study, reading a sealed note._

"_To Your Most Prolific and Uppermost Majesty, Korchulan" Angvard began writing, "I would like to remind you of common courtesy, and the ever constant law of polite engagement, as I begin this letter. Now, if I argued my beliefs to you in public, I know quite well that you would-"_

_His writing was interrupted by the two elm doors leading into his study being thrown open. Angvard quickly placed the quill back into the bottle of ink and slid the parchment under his desk._

"_I presume that you have, at the very least, a sensible reason for barging into my study without even so much as a knock?" Angvard asked Jurtone. Jurtone was of the race that called themselves the Þgatorm, but were better known to the normal living beings such as the humans and dwarves as the gargoyles. Jurtone stood at approximately six feet and three inches, with a crooked nose and two bottom teeth that curved upwards out of the mouth, with the most distinguishing feature about him being his lack of horns and deep blue skin. It was because of his ability to literally store everything he knew within his brain and not forget it within a day that he had gotten the job of being Angvard's aide._

"_That is your fault for not locking the doors" Jurtone scoffed. Angvard couldn't help but smile underneath his hood. The other reason he had gotten the position as an aide was because, although he followed orders, he still had a backbone and was not afraid of pointing out the flaws in everything from the plans of a god to the most miniscule aspects of everyday existence._

"_Now" Jurtone continued, "I have come to tell you of the Greatest Forum, which is coming up in three weeks. As always, it shall take place in the Courtroom of Korchulan's palace."_

"_Shall the law of polite engagement still be in place?" Angvard asked, an idea forming in his head._

"_As always" Jurtone said._

"_Thank you for the reminder, Jurtone. You are dismissed."_

_Jurtone bowed before turning around and leaving, shutting the doors behind him with a resounding __**BOOM**__. Angvard let loose a sigh and relaxed in his seat._

_So, he didn't need a letter. He would just wait and then voice his opinions at the Greatest Forum, an annual meeting where the gods of all the races would have the chance to voice their opinions on whatever issue was nagging at them. Every god's opinion was treated equally and debated over, so there would be no chance of any mockery._

_Just in case, though, he stashed his letter away into the top right drawer. Maybe he would finish it tomorrow._

_Two days after the Siege of Aroughs;a tent near the eastern gate of Aroughs_

Eragon's back ached as he finally woke up after what seemed like a whole day of sleeping, even though he knew it had only been a few hours. He straightened out his back, and groaned as he felt the bones in his spine pop and shift. He splashed water from a nearby bowl onto his face, and as he looked at his reverberating reflection in the water, he could see the dark bags under his eyes. He sighed before he put on his formal clothes and combed his hair.

Eragon reached his mind out to try to contact Saphira, but found that she was still asleep. He didn't mind, though, and put his shoes on before pushing open the flap and walking out of the tent. Eragon was surprised to see quite a few people up and walking about, despite the fact that it looked to be only about an hour after dawn. Walking towards what used to be the royal courtyard, he received a few greetings of "Shadeslayer", but not as much as he did when they were still fighting against Galbatorix and the Empire. Eragon liked it, though, as he knew that it was not just him that deserved respect, but all who were willing to stand against Angvard and his madness.

He made it to the courtyard and got himself a wedge of cheese, two loaves of white bread, and four slabs of roasted ham. Sitting down at one of the many little circular "cafeteria" tables, he tried to eat his breakfast as fast as possible as he didn't feel like socializing at the moment, but his hopes were dashed as Arya suddenly sat down in front of him.

"Oh, hello, Arya" Eragon almost gasped as he just barely avoided choking on his breakfast.

"Hello" Arya said emotionlessly. Not coldly, like she had done before her death here at Aroughs several months before, but as if though she was bored and simply did not care.

After her death at the hands of Galbatorix several months ago, she had been resurrected as an undead slave in the service of the human death god Angvard. A short time before the Siege of Aroughs, she had been freed from him after attacking one of his other servants in defense. Arya had arrived late in the battle and had managed to save Eragon's life as he was being strangled by a resurrected Galbatorix, but had been knocked unconscious by a single punch from Galbatorix. Still, it had left Galbatorix vulnerable and allowed Saphira to burn him to death once and for all.

"So, how do you feel?" he asked uneasily. He had never been good at starting conversations, and in such a situation as this, it was pure torture.

Arya shrugged. "The lower portion of my nose is still dislocated, and my upper jaw still aches occasionally. The tremors are unpredictable and short, but still painful."

"As I would think" Eragon said. "Will you appear at the meeting today?"

"Of course" Arya sighed almost regrettably.

"Is there something bothering you?"

"Well, it's the fact that I've never enjoyed politics. The only reason I became an ambassador between the Varden and elves was because I wanted to get out of the royal court and be away from the imperial thoughts and influences of my mother. Now, the fact that I have to succeed my mother and lead the elves and participate in lengthy, boring meeting concerning the coordination of an attack...it's too much, and I have dealt with enough stress even before being killed and used by Angvard. People blame you for failures, and those who used to be your friends do not act naturally around you." She sighed slowly and heavily, looking down at her feet.

Eragon didn't bother to say anything. He himself still felt a similar burden, that is, to rebuild the Riders, and he used to be alright when people constantly bowed in his presence, but that was quite a while ago. He didn't like it that people felt obligated to respect him just because he rode a dragon and had killed a Shade. Indeed, without either of those, he was just another man who happened to use magic. That itself was not uncommon.

"If you need any help with your leadership, you could always ask me for help" Eragon reassured. He knew it was a pathetic and weak reassurance, but at leas he was trying.

"Thank you, Eragon. I should be going now" Arya said as she got up and walked away. He looked at her briefly before sighing. He wished he had been able to lift her spirits, but his poor social skills had grounded that before it could happen. Maybe that was why she had kept rejecting his advances.

He finished his breakfast and placed the plate into one of the racks before he walked into the huge castle which used to house the nobles of Aroughs.

_-Later that morning-_

Eragon sat in the leather chair, crushing himself between Nar Garzhvog's brother Skgahgrezh and the Ra'zac named Voriadd. The room was surprisingly large enough to contain two dragons (Saphira and Thorn) and a Lethrblaka, Voriadd's brother.

In total, there were ten individuals in the room:Eragon, Murtagh, Arya, Voriadd, Voriadd's Lethrblaka, Orik, Grimrr Halfpaw, Saphira, Thorn, Skgahgrezh, and Lord Däthedr. The point of the meeting was to determine how far the Resistance's progress had come, and what still needed to be done.

"Ahem" coughed as loudly as he could while being squished, and almost immediately, the room went silent. All looked directly at him. Eragon exhaled before he first turned to Murtagh.

"Starting with you, Murtagh:how goes trying to bring Nasuada back to life?" he asked. Murtagh had personally volunteered to steal back the body of Nasuada, the former leader of the Varden and one of Eragon and Saphira's closest friends but who had been slain by Galbatorix at Aroughs. Afterward, Murtagh had decided to try to find a way to resurrect her. Eragon knew it had something to do with his feeling towards her, but so long as his emotions did not interfere with the experiments, everything was alright.

Murtagh frowned. "Badly. I once opened my mind and began looking through her brain, and I said the words in the Ancient Language to try to get her soul back into her body. Suddenly, the body began twitching and I was overjoyed at first, but then the corpse opened its mouth and uttered a blood curdling screech that made me want to hide under my blankets. The screeching stopped quickly, though, and the body stopped moving" he explained.

Orik and Grimrr's faces visibly paled at the description of the screeching, and Däthedr shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Eragon himself could not deny that he would not want to be alone in a room with a screeching corpse.

"Well, I hope that you will be able to resurrect Nasuada before this war ends. We could use Nasuada's intelligence and leadership in the Resistance. She would be able to get us properly organized" Eragon said. There were several brief and quiet murmurs in agreement. This time turning to no one in particular, he asked, "Our next target is Urû'baen, to which we shall march northwards, and then finally, Belatona. But what of Dras-Leona? It too is in the central triangle with Belatona and Urû'baen, and I was told that over three hundred thousand of our soldiers were killed while defending the city while I was imprisoned."

It was Voriadd, to his right, who answered.

"It seems that the city has been too much trouble for our oh so powerful god! Just three days after Angvard's Army conquered Dras-Leona, the entire army went missing without a trace. Approximately thirty thousand more soldiers were sent to take the abandoned city, this time accompanied by several of the huge and hideous monsters from Angvard's realm. That army went missing a day later" Voriadd sneered.

Eragon was visibly shocked, and the others within the room were bewildered, and some began to argue.

"Oh? And how exactly do _you_ know this? Is this just some propaganda story you created to boost our spirits?" Orik asked skeptically.

"You seem to forget that I was under the control of Angvard. Do you really think he told me nothing?" Voriadd scoffed, annoyance in his voice.

"He is right" Arya said before a fight could erupt. "Angvard almost destroyed in palace after hearing how almost half his army went missing without a single trace. Whatever it was in Dras-Leona, I believe it would be safe if we dealt with it after the war."

"Very well, very well" Eragon nodded as his shock subsided. He then turned to Däthedr, who had only once shifted in his seat. He had not yet uttered a single sound, and his expression did not change as he heard Voriadd's story.

"Well then, Lord Däthedr? What strategy have you devised for our magic users concerning the spirits, should we potentially face any along the way?"

The elven adviser seemed to mull over it for almost a whole minute in total silence, his eyes shifting. Eragon was about to ask him again and tell him to hurry up, when he suddenly began speaking.

"Well, my plan is to first have the mind wards equipped with every magician. That is the easiest and most obvious part. Then, every magic user will-in unison-strike the minds of the spirits, say the word "jierda", and begin draining the spirits of their energy all at once. It will help to spread confusion and once the magicians begin to sense retaliation, they shall withdraw quickly" Däthedr explained. Eragon took the time to write down the plan as the elf slowly explained it in detail.

"And have you finalized the phrases for both creating and extinguishing the mind wards?" Eragon asked.

"Yes. I shall tell you in private, though, as it needs some clarification that I would not like to bore you all with."

"Thank you, then, Lord Däthedr, for your strategy. It is short, yet simple and easy to follow. Ultimately, it is that which shall allow our magicians to succeed" Eragon said. He stowed away the scroll.

"Does anyone else have anything they would like to discuss?" Eragon asked. He was answered with silence. Not even the shaking of any heads.

"Well, this meeting was much shorter than I expected" Eragon sighed. "It is frustrating, really. I feel that you all have a good deal to talk about, and we just end it like this. Ah, well, I guess if there is nothing else of importance, we are all dismissed, then."

They all got up and filed out of the room, Voriadd and his Lethrblaka being the only ones actually talking to each other in their language of bird-like noises.

_I feel like that last bit really annoyed them_, Saphira snorted to Eragon.

_Well, when the big meeting is this short, I have a right to call them out on how much they are holding back!_, he responded.

_I feel as if though this is not the last time this will happen, though_, Saphira told him.

Eragon sighed. He just wished he could feel a bit differently.

_**And there is the first chapter of End Of Extinction. By the way, you have to read The Extinct Ally and Countdown To Extinction first to understand this, honestly. Once again, I AM SORRY about the late publication! I should stop promising things that even I am uncertain of...Oh, and please review. Reviews let me know that you care. A Favorite and Follow might say you like the story, but a review lets me know how the story really is. Questions? Concerns? Complaints? Tell me about it, don't be afraid. I'll see when the next chapter comes along. Happy Spring Break!  
**_


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